This Fleet Address is a little overdue, and there's a lot to cover, so I'll jump right in and get it done.

First off, I want to say that I believe the Fleet Plot to be a success. It wasn't without its challenges or imperfections, but overall I believe we successfully told the story of the beginning of great changes in the Star Trek world. The Earth-Romulan War is a significant event in Trek history, and we have the opportunity to /make/ that history. I'm not yet speaking of it in the past tense, because such an important event isn't concluded quickly or easily -- thus we're not quite done with it. Many sources cite the Earth-Romulan Wars (plural) which ended with the Battle of Charon in 2161. So we're only halfway to the end, currently transitioning into a cold war period in which we try to regroup the Coalition and destabilize the enemy's alliances at the same time. Not all SIMs and crews will be directly involved in this, but all will ultimately be affected in some way.

To the extent of the War's effect on the Fleet, many of you have already heard that Challenger and Meridian will be undergoing a major refit which will turn them into Freedom-class heavy cruisers. That doesn't mean they will no longer be exploring, only that they can and will be called upon for more aggressive situations in this post-war, cold war, inter-war period. Yorktown will remain an Enterprise-class (formerly "NX-class") explorer, and resume Starfleet's original mission of peaceful exploration. Forrest Outpost is becoming a "strategic location" with the construction of our newest shipyard well underway, and New Darwin Colony is invaluable as well with the addition of both a new Academy campus and Starfleet Intelligence compound.

In addition, I'm happy to announce the return if /Intrepid/ as a full TFE SIM. She'll be commanded by Captain Sandra Milikan, as played by Suzy (RAdm Batenburg). This appointment carries a great responsibility, as the SIM is being resurrected from the ground up. To help her in this, Suzy's brought on another long-time TFE SIMmer that many of you may have written with in the past. She's appointed Rick Hunter (Warrant Officer Roy Fokker, Lieutenant Benjamin Tsang) as her XO, Commander Wu Janjin. I've been informed that they're planning on getting up to full speed around September, giving them plenty of time to get the SIM set up OOC and IC, and recruit for positions.

Speaking of recruiting, Chris has stepped down from running our Recruiting Command, but not before providing us with a plethora of published advertisements and some tools to work with. Being Summer, there's a natural slump (hence why Intrepid is looking at September), but we'll be coordinating a recruiting push soon to help fill our ranks. If you'd be interested in volunteering for the Recruiting Command, do let us know and we'll certainly make use of you!

Other fleet-level positions deserve mention as well. Fleet Operations is currently being headed up by Rachelle (Capt Reece Morgan, LtCmdr Talia Brennan) as FCapt Douglass Michaels. Our Academy, as you may recall from Suzy's previous announcement, is being run by Josh as LtCmdr Kjell Lindstrom. By now, neither of these staff members are strangers to their respective positions, but I expect to /really/ put them to work as we build TFE up, so please give them all the support you can.

In other news, we've got a new website! The old one served us well for years (literally), but it was high time for a facelift. As an updated website to keep up with the other SIM Groups out there, it should help out as a primary recruiting tool. Plus, it's really a source of pride to have a web presence that (I believe) demonstrates both our creativity and professionalism. http://www.firstera.net/

And found on this new website is an addition to our Officer Exchange Program. As shown by the series finale of /Star Trek: Enterprise/, by 2161 Starfleet had undergone several changes as it transitions from a civilian science and exploration organization into a more military defense and peacekeeping force. In that vein, we're allowing United Earth Military soldiers to serve on our SIMs. This is a unique opportunity, however, and only members with six months good standing and CO approval will be eligible for a UEM soldier. More information can be found under the revised Officer Exchange Policy: http://www.firstera.net/policy_oep.htm

AND NOW, SOME AWARDS!

To start, a new award has been added for the Earth-Romulan War Campaign Ribbon. This is hereby awarded to all personnel whom participated in the fleet plot. Well done to all!

The Expeditionary/Campaign Medal is another fleet plot related award for contributing to the overall success of the fleet plot. Thus the Campaign Medal is hereby awarded to all SIM Command Teams actively serving during the Fleet Plot. Congratulations to our senior officers!

The Michael Thompson Memorial Award is given quarterly to TFE members whom have contributed to the group in a manner that defines the phrase "above and beyond". It's been a year since we've given this award out, and since we only had two nominations this time, we're awarding both members. The first goes to TC (LtCmdr Robert Casey, LtCmdr George Boyle), who has been involved in several SIMs, coordinates the Wiki, is a valued member of the Engineering Corps, and has performed admirably as Yorktown's XO. The other goes to Kate (Lt Jia Cassidy, Adavarre' Rahndi) who has also been involved in several SIMs, the Wiki, the Podcast, has been instrumental in developing the Daliwakan people on New Darwin, and has stepped up to CO of New Darwin to answer the challenges the SIM is currently facing. These two members have consistently demonstrated initiative, creativity, and leadership. Congratulations to TC and Kate!

Next is the Star Award of Excellence. This award is for excellence in SIMming, and is a high honor for TFE SIMs. The Star goes to the Challenger crew for their dedication to creative and interesting stories written with much thought and, most importantly, great fun. Congratulations to Challenger and her crew!

Finally, the TFE FlagSIM: Formerly held by New Darwin, this award goes to a SIM that has demonstrated high standards in SIMming, and consistently meets those standards, as recognized by the TFE staff (including the COs of all SIMs). The FlagSIM for 2159 is Forrest Outpost. Congratulations to Forrest and her crew on a job well done!

With everything going on, it's a great time to be involved in TFE! We're a great group of writers, of good people and friends, eager to tell a good story with each other and have fun doing it. We hold ourselves and each other to high standards because we're serious about our hobby, and that's what draws in and keeps such great people involved with us. "You get out what you put in," I firmly believe, and though many of us don't have the time to put in as much as we may wish, I like to think we're all satisfied with what's returned. That's my goal as organizer of this group at least, and any questions, comments, or suggestions you may have to aid in this goal, I'm more than happy to talk with you.

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